How the Snake Fell in love with the Doe
by EmilyLily
Summary: Before Snape was the embittered Potions Master, he was a young boy with a very dear friend named Lily, who held a special place in his heart. This tells the story of the ups and down of their friendship and how it all went so wrong. From pre- Hogwarts until possibly Halloween 1981
1. One Village, Two Worlds

**How the Snake fell in love with the Doe**

**1. One Village, Two Worlds**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter world. All rights to J.K Rowling**

The sun was just beginning to rise over the small terraced houses of Lavinia Road. The street was not overly picturesque, but instead looked far more industrialised, as if from an old painting of a city filled with mills and tall, bricked houses. It was what Lily Evans called home. Lily was nine years old and had lived in Cokeworth with her mother, father and older sister her whole life; she did not mind the smoke and the city smells, she found it all rather exciting, the city and the outskirts seemed like another world to her.

As the orange and pink rays of the morning sneaked into the room and fell on Lily's face, she blinked several times and sat up slowly. _Summer holidays. _Lily loved the summer holidays, she loved school too and seeing all her friends, but the summer meant sun and days at the beach, but best of all, summer meant the annual family holiday to La Conchiliga in Italy.

Pulling back the covers, she slid out of bed and as she was crossing the room to her small rickety wardrobe, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She was skinny and tall for her age, many people mistook her for ten or eleven; her dark red hair hung in unruly ringlets just below her shoulder blades and her almond shaped eyes were brilliant green in colour, like a spring leaf when the sun hits it. She had grown a little during her last term of school.

Opening her wardrobe, she threw on a flowery summer dress and stepped into her pale cream plimsolls and rushed down the stairs into the small kitchen where her mother was dressed in an old and frayed apron, frying sausages and bacon on the small stove. Her father was sitting behind his newspaper, humming quietly to himself and her sister, Petunia was pouring hot water into four mugs on the counter.

"Morning Daddy." Lily said chirpily as she skipped into the room and kissed her father on the cheek. He chuckled lightly and folded up his paper, placing it beside him.

"Good morning, my, someone is happy today." Mr Evans remarked as he walked his bubbly young daughter skip light – heartedly to her mother and kiss her cheek too.

"What do you expect? It's the first day of the holidays, who wouldn't be happy?" Lily asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Petunia was the only one who didn't smile as Lily gave her a good morning hug before sitting down at the table and helping herself to toast. It was a well known fact in the Evans family that Petunia was not a morning person.

The breakfast was filled with friendly chatter. Mr Evans told his wife that he was invited to play golf with his boss that evening, Mrs Evans smiled agreeably with her husband before throwing a secret exasperated look at Lily, Mrs Evans was not a fan of golf, she found the clothes all too bright and bold.

"Can we go to the park, Tuney? Please!" Lily begged across the table to her sister, who gave Lily a stern look.

"I wanted to meet up with Maria and Joyce." Petunia said as she looked imploringly at her mother. Mrs Evans was able to hide her look of dislike, Maria and Joyce were two of Petunia's friends that she had made at her private all girls' school, which she had started to attend the previous September, and as much as Mrs Evans was thrilled that her eldest daughter had made new friends, she could not help but notice the snide remarks that the other two girls made about Petunia's lack of rich parents or designer clothes.

"Petunia, you could take your sister to the park for a couple of hours and meet up with Maria and Joyce later." Mrs Evans suggested, wanting to avoid any arguments this early in the morning. Petunia rolled her eyes quietly, but then turned to her mother and gave her a small smile.

"Alright, but just a couple of hours." Petunia added sternly to Lily who was practically glowing with happiness.

On the outskirts of the smoky city, near a rather muddy and murky river stood several rows of grey, dilapidated houses which stood cold and dark against the warmth of the rising sun.

A young boy emerged from one of the houses, like a small animal emerging from its den, searching anxiously for any danger before carrying on down the street. The boy had almost shoulder length scraggily hair that was slightly limp and oily, his skin was pale like the face of the moon and his eyes were like dark tunnels and yet there seemed to be the light of youth dancing very subtly in the dark orbs. His name was Severus Snape. He walked with long, purposeful strides as he made his way to his destination; he would get it right this time, he had run through it enough times in his head before now, today was the day, he just knew it. He jogged slightly through the city streets, he didn't want to miss his chance; he finally slowed his pace when he came to the outskirts of a park. Against the sun, he could make out the shapes of the swings and the slide; then he saw them, the two girls, one was running joyously towards the play area, whilst the second girl held back, her stride more hindered and disapproving. Severus quickly ducked behind the rose bush near him, he had to pick his moment carefully, get it exactly right. Carefully, he reached out a bony hand and pulled back several of the thorny branches so that he had a clear view of the two girls. The younger one, with red hair was swinging higher than her sister on the swings and laughed freely as she did so; it was infectious as Severus felt the corners of his own mouth pull slightly as he felt her happiness engulf him as well.

"Lily! Don't!" The older sister was calling as she watched Lily swing dangerously high before letting go right at the very height of her swing. Severus held his breath, although he didn't know why, he knew full well that she would not come to any harm. Sure enough Lily landed feather – light on the grass without a mark upon her. Petunia scraped her heals along the dirt dip beneath the swing and gave her sister a deeply judgmental look.

"Mummy has told you a million times not to do that...someone might see." The last part of her sentence came out in a whisper as Petunia looked all around her, as if she was frightened would see her at the scene of some sort of grotesque crime.

"But I'm alright. I didn't get hurt." Lily laughed off her sister's criticism, then her eyes widened as she remembered something. "You have to see this, watch what I can do..." With that Lily ran over to the bush where Severus was concealed and plucked a rose from the branches and held it out at arm's length for her sister to see. Petunia looked down and she felt white hot jealousy boil up in her chest and spread throughout her body. The small, delicate flower was wilting and blossoming in her sister's childlike palm.

"Stop!" Petunia shrieked as she looked at the flower s if it had insulted her in some way. Lily gave her sister a rather hurt and confused look before setting the rose back down on the grass by her feet.

"How...How do you do it?" Petunia asked, desperately trying to mask the jealousy from her voice as her gaze still lingered on the flower that was now utterly immobile on the floor.

Severus gave a very small groan of frustration, how could that Muggle not see it?

"It's perfectly clear." He piped up as he revealed himself to the two astounded girls. He felt his cheeks colour considerably as his gaze fell on the red haired sister; there was so much he wanted, needed to tell her, but now he couldn't find the words.

"What is clear?" Lily asked as she took a very tentative step towards Severus who felt as if his entire face was now on fire.

"You're...a witch." Severus told her very quietly so that Petunia couldn't hear, she didn't need to know, it meant nothing to her. But instead of looking pleased or even surprised as Severus had expected, Lily gave him a rather affronted expression, her bright green eyes narrowing.

"Well, that is not a very nice thing to say to someone." Lily remarked as she turned on the spot and walked hurriedly over to her sister, who was now nearly back by the swings. Severus rushed after her, feeling beyond stupid now.

"But you are! It's not a bad thing. My Mum is one and I am a wizard." Severus managed to gabble, why did he have to get so tongue – tied?

"Wizard!" Petunia snorted as she gave Severus a look of utter disdain, as if he was nothing more than just a common slug. Severus felt his anger that he had managed to suppress many times before begin to resurface again.

"I wouldn't expect _you _to understand, you are only a Muggle." Severus hurled back at her, the word Muggle coming from his mouth with such harshness, like the word held a bad taste on his tongue. Petunia clearly did not understand the term, but she had heard enough from this strange boy and she certainly did not want him anywhere near her sister. Grabbing Lily by the hand, she began to drag her forcefully away.

"Come on! We are going!" Petunia snapped as she gave Lily's arm a painful tug, making her move faster. Lily was able to give Severus one last very confused look before she was dragged too far away. Severus stared after him, a hollow, empty feeling beginning to well up in his chest. For months he had been planning this moment, it had all gone so perfectly in his head, but he had ruined it with his stupidity. Who was he kidding? They were from completely different worlds, she had a family who loved her and he...well he didn't want to think about what awaited him when he returned to Spinner's End. But they were also so alike; perhaps if he had just one more chance, perhaps then he could make it go right. Making up his mind, he walked back towards the grubby outskirts of the city, a new plan forming in his mind.

**I hope this chapter was alright for the first one. I thought since I have done a Lily/James fanfic, it was time for a Lily/Severus one. Please read & review. Love Em xx**


	2. First Impressions

**2. First Impressions**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. All rights to J.K Rowling**

"I don't want you talking to that boy again. Do you hear me?" Petunia said in an authoritative tone as she continued to drag her disgruntled sister back to their home. Lily had tried several times to wrench her arm from her sister's rather painful grip, but to no avail, so she had given up and just simply followed along.

"Fine." Lily snapped back as she stumbled along the uneven road, trying as hard as possible to keep up with Petunia. They at last came to their house; Petunia opened the door, pushed Lily inside and slammed it angrily behind her, causing their mother to come hurriedly into the hall with a very concerned look on her face.

"What is the matter?" She asked in a tone to match her expression, Lily did not answer, instead she walked fast past her mother and out into the garden. Mrs Evans stared after her for a moment before turned back to her eldest daughter.

"Petunia, what is going on?" Petunia racked her brains for a moment, she did not want to tell her mother what really happened at the park, for fear that it would worry her. Instead, she decided on a near truth.

"Nothing, just Lily and I had a misunderstanding." Petunia answered, not quite looking her mother in the eye, before she climbed the stairs to her rom. Mrs Evans shook her head, the two girls were constantly having 'misunderstandings', but they had become increasingly frequent since Lily had somehow been causing odd and unexplainable things to happen. Deciding that she might be able to get a more straightforward answer from Lily, she went out into the quiet garden. It was not overly big and was surrounded by a amber – coloured wooden fence and in the corner, there was a large wooden swing bench; her husband had built it the previous year after several months of Lily's pleading for a 'thinking place' became all too much for him. Mrs Evans still shook her head as she remembered the arguments, she hadn't and still couldn't see just what a nine year old needed a 'thinking place' for, but then again, Lily had always been mature for her years.

"Alright, what is it?" Mrs Evans asked and she sank down on the wooden bench next to her daughter, who was staring out in space with a frown creasing her pale forehead.

"Mum...am I...different?" Mrs Evans was completely taken aback by the question. Whenever Lily had caused an odd event to occur, they had passed it off as just one of those things, she had never imagined that her daughter would not believe it.

"We are all different, in our own ways." Mrs Evans tried, hopeful that this was the sort of answer her daughter was seeking. Unfortunately Lily shook her head.

"No, I mean...different from other people...odd." Lily asked in a very serious voice as her bright green eyes, inherited from her father, stared deep into her mother's dark brown ones.

"Where is this coming from sweetheart?" Lily looked down at her hands, she did not want to worry her mother, but she wanted to, she needed to know.

"While we at the park, there was this boy. He told me...that I was...was a witch." Lily stammered, the absurdity of her words hitting her as she spoke them. But instead of laughing off her daughter's answer, her frown simply deepened.

"Did you know this boy?" Lily shook her head, it was the truth, she had never seen the boy before; but there was something about him that made Lily feel not only sympathy towards him, but also that they shared some kind of bond.

"No..." Lily trailed off, she knew it would sound silly if she told her mother that she believed the words of a boy she had never met before and may never meet again. Deciding it would be best to just try and forget about it all, Lily gave a great sign and leaned back in the bench. "I don't know, I guess it was just a joke." Mrs Evans gave a small smile and nodded, perhaps, but even she was beginning to believe otherwise.

"Good girl." Mrs Evans murmured as she placed a soft kiss on her daughter's auburn hair and made her way back into the house.

Lily stared after her, long after she had disappeared into the kitchen; a million thoughts were buzzing around in her brain like a swarm on persistent bees. As much as she tried to tell herself that it was all a load of nonsense, a very small, very aggravating voice in the back of her mind repeatedly whispered: _What if it's not? What if you are special? Don't you want to know? _

Severus trudged his way back to Spinner's End, bitter disappointment spreading throughout his body like a fever, causing his feet to scrape along the ground and his head to dip in defeat. After weeks of planning, playing it all out in his head night after night, the first chance he had been given to tell her, to just speak to her for the first time and he had made a complete and utter mess of it all on his own. In his frustration he kicked a drink can that was lying dismally in the centre of his path; it flew through the air and landed with a rather satisfying _splash _into the dirty river next to him, before it began to glide with the rest of the rubbish downstream. Taking a very deep breath, he turned towards one of the tall, dark buildings that faced the river and let himself in. He hoped he could escape up to his room without recognition, but luck had never been on his side.

"Where have you been boy?" A gruff voice made Severus pull up short and turn with a clenched jaw to a skinny, pallid man who was leaning against the door way. Severus almost grimaced at the simple sight of him, his once youthful face had become deeply ingrained with lines and his dark eyes seemed to suck the life out of the air around him, like a dark funnel and the stench of alcohol and cigarette smoke radiated off him like a light, some father.

"Out." Severus replied equally as gruffly, he knew that it was a very unwise decision to talk to his father in such a manner, given the terrible moods he could fly into, but at that very moment, he did not care. All he wanted was to be alone to think up a new plan or at least to mull over the mess he had made only minutes ago.

"You dare speak to your father in that way!" Tobias Snape yelled, he advanced towards his son, but was stopped as a reedy figure ran in front of him and blocked his path. "Get out of the way woman." Tobias hissed through gritted teeth as he tried to push his wife out o his way, but she stood her ground, her pasty face was determined.

"Do not threaten him like that!" She yelled back with equal force as her husband.

"He is my son and this is my house, I shall speak to him as I damn well please. Now get out of my way you witch." Tobias once again tried to push past his wife to get to Severus, but once again, Eileen prevented him from doing so, her grey eyes steely and venomous.

"Severus, go upstairs." Eileen ordered, not taking her eyes off her husband for fear that he would try to hurt their son if she did. Severus however did not move.

"But Mother—" He began but Eileen cut him off, this time turning her harsh gaze on the skinny boy that reminded him so much of his father in his younger years.

"I said go to your room." Eileen repeated. Severus bowed his head respectfully and climbed the stairs, eventually reaching his room which was cramped and dust covered, as if it had not been lived in for years. As he sat on his bed defeatedly, he heard the muffled but unmistakably sounds of his parents arguing. Placing his hands over his ears he attempted to block out the angry noises and for the first time in many years, he began to cry.

He cried for the lack of a family, a real family who would love him and care about him, he cried for the mess he had made of his first impression with Lily, but most of all he cried for himself, he cried for the fact that he knew he did not belong in this world. However the world where he did belong seemed so out of reach at the moment.

**The chapters will get longer, I promise. I hope you are all alright, please read & review. I am also going to be going back over my other two Harry Potter fanfics and I will be adjusting the bits that I feel that are not my best work. Thanks Em x**


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